The best lemon pound cake recipe full of lemon juice and lemon zest! So moist, and topped with a delicious lemony glaze.
If you’re a fan of fruity desserts, you’ll love this lemon pound cake—a flavorful spin on cream cheese pound cake! Similar to our lemon bundt cake, this recipe is a little lighter with a tasty lemon glaze!
Pound Cake for the Lemon Lovers
Hi, Deb here from Cooking on the Front Burner and get ready to pucker up with the most luscious Lemon Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze!
If you are a lemon lover like me, you must put this on your to do list—like today! I always have lemons in the house—I add them to water, pop and of course make some great desserts with lemons as well. This Lemon Pound Cake is one of my favorites! It’s moist, luscious, and has just the right amount of sweet lemony flavor!
Why is it called a pound cake? A true pound cake uses a pound of flour, sugar, butter and eggs. Although this recipe doesn’t use those exact measurements, it’s still pretty true to the ingredients and consistency of a classic pound cake—with the addition of lemon flavor, of course!
How to make lemon Pound Cake
PREP. Heat oven to 325°F and then you will grease and flour a bundt pan; set aside
BATTER. In a large bowl, combine sugar and butter at medium speed, be sure to scrape bowl often, until creamy. Continue beating, adding 1 egg at a time, until well mixed.
In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. On low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and then the buttermilk and scraping bowl often, until well mixed.
Add lemon zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Continue beating until well mixed.
Note: At certain points, the batter may look slightly curdled. Don’t worry the batter will smooth out.
BAKE & COOL. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake 55-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate and cool completely.
LEMON GLAZE
While the naked cake would be good on it’s own, adding some lemon glaze really kicks it up a notch! Simply stir together powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons lemon juice and enough milk for desired glazing consistency in small bowl.
Drizzle over cooled cake and add as much or as little as you like.
Tips and Troubleshooting
Why is my cake heavy and gluey? I found a great tip from the bakers at King Arthur Flour. When you overmix a cake, the gluten develops too much. This means the cake will rise beautifully, but disappointment sets in when the cake starts to sink as soon as it is taken out of the oven. The sinking cake results in a dense and gluey center.
Mixing it just the right way can be tricky because the more air you can beat into the batter the fluffier the cake will be, but mixing too much can yield a sinking center. So what is the solution? Cream the sugar, butter and eggs slowly, no higher than medium speed. Then, add the flour and mix gently.
What kind of pan do you use for a pound cake? I love using a decorative bundt pan. Standard, and even mini bread loaf pans, can also be used.
Additions and Toppings:
- Add a tablespoon of poppy seeds to the batter for a lemon poppyseed flavor!
- Top with lemon zest, powdered sugar, or whipped cream with fresh berries
How to store lemon pound cake: Allow the cake to cool completely before storing. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap or place in an airtight container. Store at room temperature for 3-5 days, or wrap again with aluminum foil and freeze for 1-2 months.
Now you have one pretty lemon glazed cake to serve to guests (or keep to yourself!) If you don’t share, I won’t tell anyone… mum’s the word!
And for more lemon recipes, check out:
- Lemon Blossoms
- Better than Starbucks Lemon Loaf
- Frosted Cake Mix Lemon Cookies
- Mini Lemon Drop Cakes
- Lemon Buttermilk Cake
- Lemon Lasagna
Lemon Pound Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup butter softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 tbsp lemon zest freshly grated
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Glaze
- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1-2 tbsp milk
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325°F and then you will grease and flour a bundt pan; set aside
- In a large bowl, combine sugar and butter at medium speed, be sure to scrape bowl often, until creamy. Continue beating, adding 1 egg at a time, until well mixed.
- In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- On low speed alternately add the flour mixture and then the buttermilk and scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Add lemon zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Continue beating until well mixed.
- Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake 55-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Invert onto serving plate; cool completely.
- Stir together powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons lemon juice and enough milk for desired glazing consistency in small bowl. Drizzle over cooled cake.
In the instructions for the pound cake, it states to cream the butter and sugar, but the amount of sugar is not listed in the ingredients. Sounds good, tho.
Anne, it has been updated… thanks for catching that!
Oh my god, very good!
🙂 I will pass this along! Thanks for letting me know and trying this recipe!
This was delicIoUs! The glaze did come out a little thin though. OVeral it was great, and i made it in mini bunt pans!??
I am happy to hear that! Thank you for trying it. I am glad you liked it!
mY MOM LOVES LEMON POUND CAKE! THIS IS GREAT!
This pound cake is so soft & has the right amount of lemon flavor. I could eat way more than my share!
Everyone at my house was impressed! A new favorite for my family!
Oh my, this looks amazing!! I would love a slice!!
this pound cake is amazing! IT is perfect with a cup of coffee in the morning!
Hey, just a quick question if I don’t have buttermilk can I use regular milk or heavy cream? Can you post back ASAP b/c I’m abt to bake it…
To make buttermilk, combine 3/4th cup milk or heavy cream with 2 1/4 teaspoons lemon juice.
So sorry to have not responded sooner. I don’t usually work over the weekends. How did it turn out? What did you use? You can always a teaspoon or two to milk, in place of buttermilk.
Can’t get enough lemon desserts in the summer!!
The perfect dessert for all year round! has just the right flavor of lemon in it!
this Lemon cake is Delicious! I surprised my hubby with it and he LOVED it!
Ive always enjoyed pound cake. This lemon cake does not disAppOint. Very refreshing!
Lemon cakes are one of my favorites! I especially like this recipe in the bundt pan. It makes it look so elegant and tasty.
Great recipe! This lemon pound cake turned out so delicious with a great texture! I made it without glaze but with more zest than called for (as much as my lemon would give!) and the lemon flavor seemed to develop even more after a day or two. Thank you!
You are so welcome!! I am so happy you liked it. Thank you for giving it a try!
A lovely moist cake which is light and lemony. Had lots of compliments from my 3 adult children who are not usually very liberal with their praise of my cooking! I used a modification from another website – to make ‘cake flour’ by taking 2 tablespoons of flour out of each cup measured and adding in 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. This means taking out 6 tablespoons of flour and adding in 6 tablespoons of cornstarch. this made for a soft, fluffy cake. The link is here: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/cake-flour-substitute/
Thanks for sharing that! Great site 🙂 I am glad your family liked it!
Wow! that’s amazing! I’ll do it tomorrow, it looks delicious!
Thank you! I hope you like it!
Hi, loved it, a simple lemon cake with the glaze is really a good companion to tea / coffee time, and sometimes you just want to eat simple dessert to fulfill your crave for sweets. Thank for the recipe.
Farhat…https://www.bakingnfrosting.com/2020/06/rawa-cake-recipe.html?m=1
You are so welcome & I agree! Thank you for sharing that!
I just wanted to say that i tried your recipe and it turned out amazing. i added orange zest and juice and a little vanilla, though. perfection! thanks for the awesome recipe.
You are so welcome! I am so glad you tried it & thought it was amazing! Thank you!
My family and I loved this cake!! My Grandmother said it reminded her of the one my great grandmother would make. This recipe is a keeper.
Happy to hear that!! Thank you so much for sharing that with me!
Amazing amazing recipe. Easy and delicious.
Thank you for trying it! I’m so glad you loved it! I love easy too!
This cake turned out fantastic. Moist and perfect♥️ I will be making this again for certain! Thank You!!!
Yay! I’m so glad that you enjoyed the cake!!
I appreciate the recipe; however, it never says what you’re supposed to add the buttermilk to. The butter and sugar and egg mixture is in one bowl. The flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt: flour mixture is in another bowl. When does it say which mixture to add the buttermilk to? I had to guess that I was supposed to add the buttermilk to the flour mixture. Then it didn’t say blend the butter, sugar, egg mixture with the flour mixture (that I’m assuming I was supposed to add buttermilk to). I want to get the recipe correct and not knowing which mixture to add buttermilk to, threw me off. I still appreciate the recipe tho.
Sure! Good question. So the instructions say: “On low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and then the buttermilk and scraping bowl often, until well mixed.” So you have your bowl with sugar/butter eggs and then you’ll alternate adding a scoop of the flour mixture and then some of the buttermilk. Then scrape the sides. Continue alternating until all the flour mixture and buttermilk have been added. Then you’ll add the lemon zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice and continue beating until well mixed. Hopefully that helps clear up any confusion! 🙂
Hi- currently making this delicious cake now but I’m using the pound cake pans-how long and what is the temp? Is it the same time and temp?
Yes – it’s the same time and temp. Bake 55-65 minutes at 325 degrees F or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes and then invert onto a serving plate. Hope this helps!
Hello! currently making this delicious cake now but I’m using the pound cake pans-how long and what is the temp? Is it the same time and temp?
Hello, I’m currently making this cake and just wondering should I wait to make the glaze (cake literally just went in the oven) or does it not matter. My fear was it hardens while waiting for the cake to bake.
Thanks! Super excited to taste!!
Hi Terrell! I usually make the glaze after the cake has come out and cooled a bit. I hope the cake turned out well!